Ronald Reagan was hysterical. He was many other things too, good and bad, but he was always funny, and he knew the power of a well-timed joke or one-liner.
Humor was deeply important to Reagan and he used it like a master. Reagan saw humor as a powerful tool, perhaps a politician’s greatest. In fact, he hired a comedy writer named Doug Gamble who went on to write political jokes for both Presidents Bush and most recently for former president Donald Trump.
Reagan’s timing is on full display in this YouTube video posted by oboguev. It was the end of the cold war, and people were still nervous about relations with Russia. But Reagan knew that his joke allows us to see our fears a little more reasonably, taking away some of the power they hold.
Here’s just a sampling of his “top hits.”
The Soviet car joke
This was one of Reagan’s most frequently told jokes, used to highlight the systemic shortages and absurdities of the planned economy. A man goes to a Soviet car dealer to purchase a new car. The salesman tells him there’s a 10-year waiting list and that he must pay in advance. The man agrees and pulls out his money. As he’s about to leave, he asks the salesman, “Should I come in the morning or the afternoon in 10 years to pick it up?” The salesman, bewildered, asks, “What difference does it make?” The man replies, “The plumber’s coming in the morning.”
The potato harvest joke
This joke illustrates the exaggerated and often false propaganda used by the Soviet government. A star commissar is visiting a collective farm and asks a worker about the potato harvest. The worker boasts, “The harvest was so big that if you piled all the potatoes up, they would reach the foot of God.” The commissar responds, “This is the Soviet Union. There is no God.” The worker replies, “That’s all right. There are no potatoes either”.
The freedom of speech joke
This joke plays on the contrast between Western freedoms and Soviet-style censorship and repression. An American and a Russian are debating which country has more freedom of speech. The American says, “In my country, I can go to Washington, knock on the Oval Office door, and shout, ‘Mr. President, I don’t like the way you’re running the country!'” The Russian responds, “That’s nothing. In my country, I can go to the Kremlin, knock on the door, and shout, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, I don’t like the way President Reagan is running his country!'”.
The curfew joke
This joke exposes the arbitrary and abusive power of Soviet authorities. A man is walking down a Moscow street late one night when a soldier yells, “Halt!” The man, startled, starts to run, and the soldier shoots him. When another citizen questions the shooting, the soldier explains, “It’s curfew.” The citizen protests, “But it’s not curfew yet.” The soldier replies, “I know, but I know where he lives. He couldn’t have made it home in time”.
The dogs and communism joke
This joke points out the disparity in living standards between the U.S., Poland, and the Soviet Union. An American dog, a Polish dog, and a Soviet dog meet. The American dog says, “In my country, if I bark long enough, someone eventually gives me meat.” The Polish dog asks, “What’s meat?” The Soviet dog interjects, “What’s a bark?”.
The “full communism” joke
This joke highlights the pervasive cynicism among Soviet citizens toward their government’s promises. Two men are walking down a street in Moscow. One asks the other, “Have we reached full communism yet?” The other man replies, “Oh, no, things are going to get a lot worse”.
The Gorbechev’s driver joke
This joke, which Reagan told during his presidency, was a satire of the Soviet elite’s privilege and lack of accountability. Two traffic police are on patrol when a fancy car speeds past them. One officer gives chase but returns moments later without issuing a ticket. His partner asks, “Why didn’t you give him a ticket? We were told to ticket anyone speeding.” The officer responds, “This one was too important.” His partner asks, “Who was it, a high-ranking official?” The officer replies, “I didn’t recognize him, but his driver was Gorbachev”.
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This article was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
